There was a comment on the channel I respond to. A woman said that the quote she read suggested that it might be better if she let go of resentment. She immediately applied it to a coworker that she was angry at. My answer was that hurting other people, even in our unspoken thoughts, does damage to us as well. The converse is also reliable. Kindness toward others is a blessing to the giver. 

Such math goes against much of our experience. If I give up my seat on the bus to a pregnant woman, she gets to sit and I don't. If I pay a parking ticket the cash goes one way. Nine minus four is five. It goes down. 

But spiritual math is a different story. It flies in the face of subtraction or division. 

This week I experienced that expansion at Parent's Night Out. Seventeen older people volunteered to care for fifty younger people. Some of the carers were themselves moms and dads, while others were in their teens. While it is true that they wiped up spills, and helped children reach the water jug, they smiled too. One dad helped little girls throw a line on a fishing pole. I did not linger long enough to overhear what he said they were hoping to catch, but it looked fun. Another father brought a bright kite, and gave kids a chance to hold the string while it tugged in the wind. The high school students played basketball and chased kids on scooters. Mothers held chunky babies that were not their own on their hips. 

From my vantage point of greeting parents when they came back from a three hour break, they won as well. Some sat together beside a pool and laughed, while others unpacked from a long trip, or did yard work after eating take out. I hope it was a chance to exhale after the marathon that is life with a young family. 

Then there were the children themselves. There was very little crying, which is remarkable given the median age of three. No tantrums. Mostly they flung themselves into unfettered play, and eating half a slice of pizza. One girl pointed out her wiggly tooth, reminding me if I had forgotten that she lost a tooth at a previous Parent's Night out. Which I admit I had. The circle of children in the midst of this life change compared their findings from the tooth fairy. Prices have gone up, I noticed. 

There was an impromptu gymnastics show, in which the onlookers were impressed by the agility of a body that can turn upside down so quickly. 

For the last hour, many of them found comfy seats in the auditorium to watch a movie and eat popcorn. Some had polled their friends about which movie to choose. In the end, I left it to John, and only one girl bemoaned that she had watched it yesterday. 

Our master chef had warm snicker doodles and chocolate chip cookies waiting for the parents when they came to fetch their broods. 

No one got hurt. Everyone was safe. And what delights me every time, is that the number of children dropped off matched perfectly with the number that was picked up. 

That is my kind of math.